Window-shade roller



E. H. BROCK. WINDOW SHADE ROLLER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1920.

Patented May 23, 1922.

grwem ro'a s're srarn orri ELLIS R. BROCK, OF ATHENS, GEORGIA.

WINDOW-SHADE ROLLER.

arness.

Application filed June 18,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELLIs R. Bacon, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Athens, in the county of Clarke and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVindow-Shade Rollers, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to shade rollers for windows and is designed to simplify and improve the construction of such devices and to secure easier, more certain and more satisfactory operation to reduce to a minimum the chances of getting out of order and to constribute greatly to the lasting qualities of the device. It is a well known fact that the so called automatic spring mechanism so commonly used for permitting the shade to be pulled down manually against the tension of the spring and then made to automatically catch and hold and to be made to rise again under the tension of the spring after a short downward pull to release the catch have been the cause of much annoyance and dissatisfaction among users. It so often happens that the catch does not hold at the lower limit of the movement when the operator releases the shade thinking that it has caught and it flies back to the upper limit of its movement possibly becoming jammed there and at any rate requiring the operator to climb up on something to reach it and pull it down again. Then the shade is down and it is. desired to raise it, several efforts are usually necessary since the release of the catch requires not only a short down pull insutlicient to reach a second catch from that in operation but a quick upward movement atthe very beginning so as not to give the automatic catch time to operate. The operator furthermore must retain a firm grasp on the shade during the quick upward release movement otherwise it will startle and annoy him by suddenly going the full limit of the upward movement. Such automatic mechanism is furthermore necessarily complicated and expensive and likely to get out of order. I am aware that others have appreciated these objections to the shade rollers commonly used and have endeavored without complete success to devise means for securing the desired results while avoiding the objections. My invention is designed to avoid all of the objections and defects above noted and to provide a structure which can be operated with absolute certainty and with specification of Letters Patent. Pat-,ajflgdl ft 1 23 1922 1320. Serial No. 389,950.

great ease and satisfaction at each attempt. According to my invention the shade moves up or down easily by a simple pull of the desired amount and with absolute certainty stays where it is left. The novel features will be apparent from the following description and claims taken with the drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l shows the shade and roller in full lines. partly broken away at the center, and my supporting and operating means at the ends in section;

Figure 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking towards the shade;

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line 3*? of Fig. 1, and

Figure 4. is a fragmentary section on the line of Fig. 1,

As shown in the drawing a curtain or shade 10 made of Well known fabric is secured at one end to and wound on the roller 11 which may he made of wood or other suitable material. A. supporting member 12 which may be made of metal, wood or other material is provided with means for securing it to the window facing such as the perforated lugs 13 adapted. to be screwed to the facing of the window. The member 12 in the form of a housing for the end of the roller and has a cylindrical portion 14 forming an open ended cylindrical chamber 15 concentric with and surrounding the end of the roller 11. The rear or inner wall 16 of this chamber 15 is provided with a central bearing socket 17 in which the endof roller 11 fits and turns. The roller 11 has in its end fitting in said socket 17 a longitudinally extending slot opening 18 extending entirelythrough it. A spring 19 formed of a flat strip of spring metal has one end 20 fit ting in said slot 18 outside of said socket bearing 17 and there secured rigidly to the roller. The portion of the spring projecting from the slot is bent on a curve as shown in Fig. 2 bearingat one point tangentially against the inner surface of the portion 1% in the cylindrical chaniber or housing 1.5. The free end 21 oftlie spring is however bent still further back towards roller 11 and out of contact with the surface of 14; as seen in Fig. 2. This is to prevent the free end of the spring from coming in contact with the surface in turning and possibly catching and to provide an inclined surface of contact between the spring and surface at both ends thus making frictional movement be secured to the window frame by in either direction easy. The curbed portion of the spring is under tension and ex erts pressure on the surface of l l so as to interpose a uniform frictional resistance to the turning of the roller. This tension of the spring will of course take up any wear on the spring or surface and keep the friction uniform. The roller 11 is preferably provided with a collar 22 acting as a rotary closure for the. end of the cylinder housing 14 keeping out dust and dirt arm adding to the attractiveness in appearance.

At the opposite end of said roller from said friction spring mechanism there is a supporting member or housing 23 which has an open ended cylindrical portion 2a forming the cylindrical chamber 25 and which may any suitable means such as perforated cars 26. Centrally in the inner end of chamber 25 there is a socket 28 in which the end of roller 11 fits and turns. l/Vithin the chamber 25 there are two flanged pulleys secured side by side to p the shaft and the outer margins of the flanges preferably extend approximately to the innermargin of chamber 25. I preferably make the flanges curved as shown and a single central double inclined flange 29 may down by a simple pull on the cord.

v in a number of windings serve as one end flange for each pulley cooperating with' the other flanges 30 and 31.

A cord 32 is secured at one end to the pulley formed by flanges 29 and 30 and is wrapped around the pulley and then passes out through the opening or hole 33 in the cylinder 24 and hangs down at 34 in position to be grasped and pulled by the operator. The other end of the cord 32 passes into cylinder 24: through opening 35 and is wound on the pulley formed by flanges 29 and 31 the windings being in the opposite direction from those on the first pulley. The holes and 35 may be out of line along the cylinder so as to receive the cord with less bending from the two pulleys and metal eyes 36 and 37 may be added to guide the cord. It will be understood from the above description that a pull on one branch of the hanging portion 34 of the cord will turn the roller in one direction through the Winding on the pulley whereas a pull on the other branch will cause reverse turning and thus the shade may be moved up or The branch for moving the shade down is not absolutely necessary in ordinary cases but has advantages particularly when the shade is high or out of reach. The friction spring of course acts the same whether the shade is going up or down.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described the combinationwith a shade roller, of a member having a bearing socket to rotatively receive and support one end of said roller,

means for frictionally resisting the turning of said roller, three spaced flanges having circular outer margins of the same diameter on said shaft near the other end leaving the end of the shaft projecting beyond, a sup porting member for said last mentioned end of the shaft comprising a cylindrical chamber open at one end to receive the endof said shaft and fit marginally around said flanges with one flange practically closing the end of the chamber and a central bearing socket on the inside of the closed end of said cylinder adapted to be entered longitudinally by the projecting end of said shaft and to rotatively support it.

2. A shade roller and support comprising three easily detachable parts including two end sockets of similar size and shape adapted to be secured in place on the window frame and each having a cylindrical chamber open at one end facing each other and a smaller central cylindrical bearing socket within and removed from the open ends of said chambers, a shade roller having ends adapted to longitudinally enter and turn in said bearing sockets, and circular flanges on said shaft so positioned as to substantially close and turn in the open ends of said cylindrical chambers.

3. A shade roller and support comprising three easily detachable parts including two end sockets of similar size and shape adapted to be secured in place on the window frame and each having a cylindrical chamber open at one end facing each other and a smaller central cylindrical bearing socket Within and removed from the open ends of said chambers, a shade roller having ends adapted to longitudinally enter and turn in said bearing sockets and circular flanges on said shaft so positioned as to substantially close and turn in the open ends of said cylindrical chambers, means carried by one end of said shaft adapted to enter its longitudinal chamber with the shaft and frictionally engage the interior of the cylinder against turning, and flexible means entering the cylindrical chamber at theother end of'the shaft and so con nected to the shaft therein as to provide means for turning it.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 

